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Tag Archives: market

Design considerations for a new product or idea must be centered around the audience that will be using it. Demographics and the implied needs prospects will affect its success when introduced. The actual design of a product will have to satisfy those avatars who choose to use it.

The final test in determining whether or not a product design is successful or not is in the purchasing of the product. The product designer has to determine that result in advance, of course, which is the key to the creation of the best design. In general there are two main design considerations that affects the end result. The first is industrial design which is concerned with functionality, workability and durability. The second is product design would is related to aesthetics, eye appeal, coloring and general overall appeal.

Industrial design is affected by a variety of factors such as script load on the servers, script memory usage, as well as reliable error checking if and when invalid data is received. The user of the object expects the scripts, poses, animations, etc to work at all times regardless if it’s first use of the scripted object or weeks later after the sim has crashed/restarted.

Product design is affected mostly by visual elements such as the relative scale of the object in relationship to the avatar (of which avatars can come in all sizes from small nano avatars to larger avatars a dozen or more meters tall). The colors used to texture and tint the object should not clash with each other and if the object can change into different shapes such as an outfit or even a rigid mechanical part of a machine such movement should appear natural from the avatar’s viewpoint.

A great deal of effort will usually go into the marketing end of the equation in order to determine what segments of markets are demanding the product. Once that area is sufficiently identified, then the product can be designed to specifically appeal to that market segment in a successful manner that
will bring predictable results.

Writing a business strategy and marketing plan is not required in order to start a new business, however it will challenge you to answer important questions regarding every aspect of your business. The business strategy should provide, at minimum, both short-term and long term goals and can be used as a blueprint when making decision during the course of business. One of the most challenging, yet very important, areas of the plan to investigate is potential competition. Such investigations of competitors may include lessons learned from failed competitors from the past, current competition, as well potential competition in the future should a non-competitor decide to expand their business into your market.

Many consumers will compare competitive products on price alone, therefore your marketing strategy should also determine it’s pricing position. The three common pricing methods are undercutting, matching, and premium. Undercutting the competition by pricing your products at a lower price has the potential of increasing market share, but could also suggest to potential customers that your products are cheap and low quality. Matching prices set by the competition requires including a similar feature set as other’s products, however it can be very difficult to stand out and gain market share if you are both selling the same similarly-priced quality items. Premium pricing allows you to stand out from the competition by highlighting exclusive features and an impression of high quality, however due to the higher price the competition might gain a higher market share in the short term.

Every business is unique in how they include social marketing in their long term e-business strategy, however the general goal is to increase interactions with both customers and prospects. Potential prospects will want to submit inquiries about available products including how they compare to the competition. Existing customers will have support inquiries on how to best utilize their recent purchase to benefit them and/or will request new features to be added based on advertisements received from your competition. It is important to reply to these inquiries and monitor review boards and discussion forums for communications between customers and prospects. Fortunately, many product review places allow a follow-up reply to be posted for all to see as a demonstration that the business owner cares about their customers.

The shopping experience can be dull, tedious, and time-consuming where sometimes only the most passionate consumer should endeavor. For some, market browsing is a nerve-racking experience enough even without having to cope with attitude issues. In recent years the purchasing experience has been even more stressful with the current economy.

When shopping for clothes many are in search of the most recent styles, however outfit searching can be strenuous for everybody. Some just don’t know how long it can take to try on an outfit and adjust the position especially when a pose-stand is not available. In the real world one will usually wear simple clothing and comfy footwear with a light-weight jacket. Within a virtual shop the same is true in that unnecessary HUD’s and attachments need not be worn while in the store which greatly benefits the shopping experience when trying on outfits as well as minimizing lag in the sim.

Holiday shopping is one of the more tense periods especially when the same or similar items are being offered by many different businesses, yet the customer is searching for alternatives in an effort to stand out from the rest. Offering the consumer unique gifts to give the special people in their life or an unusual costume for festivities can improve the appealing attractiveness of the store.

Family and group shopping can become tiresome for all members. Interest levels can vary especially among younger individuals although even adults can become stressed eventually. After a period of time many will simply give up and stop looking, fortunately many families and groups are open to participating in activities afterwards whether it be having a meal or enjoying entertainment together.